Utah gymnastics: Tory Wilson victorious on vault again

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Tucson, Ariz. • Suffice it to say vault is Tory Wilson's event. The sophomore, who earned All-America honors on the event as a freshman, won her third vault title in as many meets Friday.

Wilson capped off Utah's vault rotation with a 9.95, which tied her career high.

Winning hasn't gotten old for Wilson, who also added a 9.75 on the balance beam and a 9.825 on the floor.

"It is fun to be able to go out there and show everyone what I can do," she said.

Wilson ranks fourth nationally, averaging 9.925.

The Utes knew vault would be one of their strengths this season, but Wilson's vault stands out from the rest, Utah coach Greg Marsden said.

"She blasts right up and then drops straight down," he said. "The way she performs that vault, it just looks different than anyone else's."

New floor lineup

The Utes moved sophomore Becky Tutka, who scored 9.85s on the floor in the previous meets, to last in the lineup Friday from her usual fourth-place spot.

Wilson and Nansy Damianova also flipped spots, with Wilson going second. The adjustments were made in an effort to see if Tutka could earn even higher scores for the Utes, who rank fifth on the floor, averaging 49.188.

The new lineup worked, with Tutka scoring a 9.9 to tie her career high.

Floor (49.275) and vault (49.325) turned out to be the strong points for the Utes on Friday.

"I thought floor and vault were spectacular," Marsden said. "But we need to compete that way all the way through."

Exhibition time

The Utes used several gymnasts in exhibition Friday to see how they would respond to the pressure. They were all good enough that the Utes could have used them in the regular lineup. Mary Beth Lofgren earned a 9.725 on the uneven bars in exhibition and a 9.825 on the vault. â¦ Tutka earned a 9.75 on the bars in exhibition. â¦ Lia Del Priore scored a 9.825 on the floor. Freshman Haley Lange had a 9.7 on vault.

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